Operationalising Theory-Construction

Philosophical theorising faces a fundamental obstacle: We rely on intuitions about thought experiments, but these intuitions frequently contradict our theories. In epistemology, complex thought experiments proliferate, and attempting to perfectly fit a theory to all our intuitions would bring theory-construction to a standstill. To break this impasse, Operationalising Theory-Construction offers a novel framework for assessing which intuitions hold evidential weight, and which may legitimately be set aside: Keßels innovatively introduces case-complexity and intuition stability as a dual criterion. Implementing this criterion requires organising thought experiments into case-types and broader categories. The book explains how to construct such a taxonomy, and outlines its methodological benefits. It is accompanied by a digital taxonomy of thought experiments on knowledge, as proof of concept and practical reference for epistemologists. While developed with theories of knowledge in mind, this work is relevant to all areas of philosophy where thought experiments play a central role.